Teaching Digital Art and Animation

         I've started teaching Digital Art and Animation at North Broward Preparatory School. Its a pretty great school and the only apple certified school in Florida. Since my artwork is created primarily in digitally media, I will be teaching digital art using adobe photoshop. I also have a passion for animation, and I'm very excited to be teaching the principles of animation, motion graphics and 2D animation. I have been a lifelong student of the arts and I seek to instill that passion in aspiring artist.I believe an art teachers role is to help develop each individual students interest and passions through their artwork. At the same time, young art students need to develop a solid foundation, while exploring a variety of techniques in order to find their voice as an artist. 

I've also created a Youtube Channel to Showcase my students work: CLICK HERE to View

MFA in Illustration from the University of Hartford

So I graduated with my Master in Fine Arts in illustration from the University of Hartford.   My experience with the MFA program was great and I feel it did help me grow tremendously as an artist. I returned from the second summer super pumped to create artwork. Everything I had in my thesis show was made after the second summer. I think as artist, it is natural to have highs and lows and there were a lot of moments where I felt a lot of pressure to come up with something great for the show. I wanted to push myself as far as possible. 

Angel M. Alvarez Illustration- Alphabet Amigos ABC Children's Book Sample Illustrations 

I think, I gained the most from the faculty critiques, conversations with my classmates and listening to the guest speakers. I came to realize that all these great illustrators would say the same thing over and over again. Thumbnail and explore ideas, create color studies, make sure your value structure is spot on and get solid reference. But the most important thing I heard repeatedly was "Make artwork that You LOVE". I think that was a wonderful lesson that will stick with me for a lifetime of making art. 

I'm excited to see what challenges come my way moving forward. 

Angel M. Alvarez- Father and Son Adventure Series Sample Illustrations

Father son Adventure Series Knights and Dragon

I've been working on my father son adventure series. This one is me and my son as knights getting ready for battle against a dragon. This is a combination of traditional drawing with digital colors.

Angel M. Alvarez Illustration, Father and Son Adventure Series, Dragon and Knights Illustration

Character Design Logos- Angel M Alvarez Illustration

I love creating these character Designs for Logo work. Here is an example of the process I go through from initial sketch, to tight sketch. I also do a quick color study to make sure the color is in harmony before I finalize image. 

Angel M. Alvarez- Illustrator Logo Design Process- Everglades Logo

I've created several Character logos for various companies. I love doing these. 

Academia as Literary Agent

              I am pleased to announce that I recently signed with Academia Cultural to represent me as my literary agent with the goal of publishing my dual language children’s book. Academia Cultural works with some spectacular authors, illustrators and musicians that are passionate about developing multicultural and linguistically authentic art and literary programs for children. Company Founder, Luis Orozco, Jr has extensive experience in bilingual children's media.

              This started a few weeks ago when I attended Yuyi Morales book signing in Miami, FL. She is the author/illustrator of Viva Frida (McMillan Publishers) that received a Caldecott Honor. I had my three year old son with me who was a bit impatient sitting through the presentation, so we had to step out in the middle of the event to buy a cookie. Fortunately, I had an opportunity to talk to her afterward and she signed a book for my son, she is an incredibly talented artist. While at the event I also met Luis Orozco, Jr and showed him some of my work. We had a tough time talking with my three year old son vying for my attention. I reached out to Luis after the event and we secured a collaboration to have Academia Cultural represent me as my literary agent. My son was the inspiration behind the book I wrote; so I’m glad he was by my side, tugging at my shirt and calling my name, when I secured this step in my illustration career. 

www.academiacultural.com

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”- Paulo Coelho

Importance of diversity in children's books



             As the Director of an early childhood center and the father of a three year old boy, I’ve come to appreciate the first five years of a child's life as critical in laying down the foundation for future health and happiness. A child’s relationships, experiences and environment are central in shaping their view of the world. Picture books help shape that view. Books teach children lessons about life, compassion and how to understand the world. With all the intolerance circulating in our country, children’s books are more important than ever to help break the cycle of fear. Unfortunately, there is a huge diversity gap in children’s publishing. Although 37% of the US population are people of color, only 10% of children’s books published in the past 21 years depict multicultural content. I want my son to be able to identify with the characters in the books he reads and I want him exposed to books that reflect the diversity of our society. When children see diversity in cultures and people in the books they read they can break free of the ignorance, prejudices and stereotypes that blind so many.  

Angel M. Alvarez- Spot Illustration for SCBWI Member newsletter

Giraffe Baseball Pitcher Illustration

I love baseball and drawing animals. So here is a mashup of an unlikely giraffe pitching machine. I love developing these characters. This illustration was painted in acrylics with some color pencil details.

Angel Miguel Alvarez- Giraffe Baseball Pitcher Illustration